Pounce CEO Suggests Improved eCommerce Checkouts Aren’t Enough

By Pete Rizzo (@pete_rizzo_) 

You might be familiar with this YouTube video in which a one-year-old baby famously confuses a magazine for a broken iPad. The video is often cited as compelling evidence that coming generations will be “digital natives,” or more importantly for those in the payments, consumers who require unique digital solutions for transacting not yet available on the market.

If that’s the case, then mobile shopping startup Pounce is vying to become the company that finally fixes “broken” traditional advertisements, circulars, magazines and newspapers.

Founded in 2012 and launched this November, Pounce’s app allows users to transform static print ads into digital storefronts using image-capture technology. All consumers need to do is scan product images and proceed to the app’s one-step checkout.

Following the launch, PYMNTS.com spoke with Avital Yachin, CEO and co-founder of Pounce, in an exclusive interview to discuss what inspired him to create Pounce (Jump to 0:25) , how he deals with the complexities of the payments and online commerce space and what separates Pounce from other similar shopping apps (Jump to 2:12) .

Driving Yachin’s work is the belief that despite improvements in eCommerce checkouts, many users still find it hard to complete an online purchase.

“There’s a lot of reasons why [a solution like Pulse] wasn’t on the market,” Yachin told PYMNTS.com (Jump to 2:33). “If you look at large retail providers such as PayPal, large credit card companies and Google Wallet, they are still focused on the actual money transfer. Companies like Square, LevelUp … they try to simplify the payment process, but only at the last part of the transaction, wiring the money. However, when you’re purchasing online, you have to go through several steps before you get to the payment point.”

Eliminating these steps, and in the process, bridging the gap between online and offline purchases, is the primary goal of Pounce, Yachin suggests.

For more on how Yachin is working toward this objective, what inspires him to create (Jump to 8:17) and how he believes the mobile payment ecosystem will evolve to meet coming consumer demand (Jump to 5:37) , listen to the full podcast here.

*If you have trouble with the audio player above, click here.

Avital Yachin, co-founder and CEO, Pounce

Avital Yachin is the co-founder and CEO of Pounce, a secure mobile app that allows consumers to instantly purchase products seen in print through image recognition technology, making shopping more convenient.

Yachin is a seasoned entrepreneur and expert in the eCommerce and Retail Technology space, with a keen understanding of internet software. Prior to starting Pounce, Yachin co-founded the startup, Delver, a web search engine that displayed prioritized results based upon the searcher’s social network and community. In 2009, Sears Holding Corporation purchased Delver, now called “Sears Holding Corporations Israel.”

Previously, Yachin worked for six years as the Product Manager in the Airborne Division of Elbit Systems Ltd., a defense electronics manufacturer and integrator. He resides in Tel Aviv, Israel with his family.